Mindsets

She says....

Maybe it is just me....I don't know, but some days I am just "myself". Other days I am totally not. When I feel like "me" I am just so positive about life and I'm strong and I just feel great like I could conquer the world. Then there are those days where I am just in a funk. There is no other way to describe it. I feel weird. I don't have a positive outlook on anything and everything seems much worse than it actually is.

Yesterday on my way to work I felt great! I had so much peace and was just totally myself. I was confident, happy, excited about life, had nothing but positive thoughts about my husband and just had a fantastic mindset. So I got to thinking about this. I think it is so important to really pay attention to our mindsets. When I realized how great I felt I pondered why I felt like that. I wondered to myself what was different between that moment and the moments when I feel totally rotten. I realized that the very moment I have a thought that doesn't line up with Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" I MUST catch myself with the first few thoughts. If I don't, it is a downward spiral.

But how many times do we not even realize or pay attention to what we are thinking about and in a matter of minutes our thoughts are totally out of control and the course of our entire day is changed. Is it just me? Am I the only one out there that does this??? I believe we all probably struggle with this. Maybe some more than others.

I have spent many months with a few thoughts that I have let settle in my mind. Thoughts about my husband. Thoughts like "I just still can't believe it!", "How could he have done this to me?",  "I don't trust him and I never will", "I am such a fool", and so on and so on. I have been trying to have regular quite time as often as possible. And we have been seeing a wonderful counselor. This week God really convicted me of something. My mindset about all this was totally screwed up. He just showed me how I wasn't even praying for my husband. OUCH!! What a terrible realization! All I could focus on was ME, ME, ME. So all week, I have prayed my heart out for him. And we have had an amazing week. We have progressed SO much.

I don't know who exactly this post is for but be mindful of your thoughts. Pay attention to what your are focusing on and repeating to yourself. Ask God to search YOUR heart and to help YOU. He is so faithful to come to our rescue. If you wait too late and you have already spiraled down in your thoughts, just praise. You cannot worry and be defeated and praise at the same time. Praise God with your everything. It will be hard, no doubt. You may not want to and you may actually by this point want to wallow in your thoughts. Don't let the enemy win here. Start with just naming three things you are grateful for. Put on some worship music. Do what David did and reflect on all the times God has come through for you in the past. Call a friend. PRAY!!!!

Things seem to always appear MUCH worse than they really are. The enemy would love for us to see the worst possible outcome of every situation. But we have a choice. CHOOSE your thoughts, don't let them choose you.